William Holden was the original choice to star in the first film, The Omen (1976), but turned it down as he did not want to star in a picture about the devil. Gregory Peck was selected as his replacement. "The Omen" went on to become a huge hit and Holden made sure he did not turn down the part in this sequel.
Lance Henriksen, who portrayed Damien's platoon sergeant, Daniel Neff at the military academy, revealed in an article that this film did not garner him much attention upon its release. He explained that he had been hired by the film's original director, Mike Hodges and had planned with Hodges for Neff to be a veteran of the Vietnam War who had returned home to guide the young Damien towards his destiny. He had also admired Hodges's plans to incorporate artistic touches, such as classic paintings (including but not limited to Edvard Munch's "The Scream") into the film. Hodges's flair for the dramatic and the artistic can be seen in the number of visual references that prefigure the various death scenes in the finished film. Henriksen explained that, with Hodges's sudden departure from the production, a lot of his plans for the film went with him. He explained that he felt ignored by Hodges's eventual replacement, Don Taylor, who rushed the production of the film through to get it completed on time and on budget. Whilst Henriksen did not care for the finished film and expressed that he did not feel that it added much to his career prospects, he explained that he felt a kinship for the cadets at the military academy and bought them a television when his time filming there was completed. Unfortunately, although cast as one of Damien's protectors and mentors, Henriksen did not have much involvement with Jonathan Scott-Taylor on set.
The popularity of the name Damien plummeted as a result of this movie and its predecessor.
Lee Grant had been a big fan of The Omen (1976) and enthusiastically jumped at the chance to appear in the sequel.